Purse.



" A. J. MEIER.

PURSE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6. 1912..

Patented May 11, 1915.

ALBERT JOHN MEIER, OF GLENDALE, MISSOURI.

runs'n.

To all whom it may concern: 7 Be it'known that I, ALBERT JOHN MEIER,

a citizen of the United States, and residing at Glendale, in the countyof St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Purses, of which the following is a specificatioxn Thisinvention relates to purses and like devices, and more particularly tocoin purses.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a purse which may bereadily opened to expose the contents thereof so as to permit theirremoval, and which when closed will securely hold the contents thereinand form a substantially flat compact receptacle.

Another object is to provide a device which will be simple in itsconstruction-and operation, and further objects will appear from thedetail description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a purse forming the subject matter of thisinvention, the purse being shown closed, Fig. 2 is a section on the line2-2 Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a planview showing the purse open, Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 Fig. 4,Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view.of thespring, Fig. 7 is a detailperspective view showing another form of spring, and Fig. 8 showsdetails illustrating another embodiment of this invention.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1to 6 inclusive, 12 designates a body or cover made of flexible materialsuch as thin leather.

This body or cover is doubled over and formed or shaped so as to formwhen closed a flat oval receptacle as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Thisreceptacle is slit along one side or face as shown at 13 to form anexpansible opening as hereinafter described. The body may be formed of asingle piece of leather shaped as shown, or it may be formed of aplurality of pieces glued or sewed together. When formed of a pluralityof pieces the seam may Fig. 1, or the body may be formed of twooval-shaped pieces seamed along their outside edges. A strip of leatheror like flexible material 14 is secured-to the inside face of the body,and this strip is slit to form two lips extending along the lips of theslit 13.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

lie along the lines 3-3, or 2-2 Patented May 11 1915.

Application filed June 6, 1912. Serial No. 702,099.

The thickness of the strip decreases from the center toward the ends asshown in Figs.

3 to 5 inclusive. An oval-shaped leaf orbowed spring comprising twopieces 15 jointed at 16 is located inside of the receptacle and bears atits ends against the ends of the receptacle body, leaving the sides ofthe spring out of contact with the side edges, as shown in Figs. 1 and3. The spring is so constructed and proportioned that it will tend toelongate longitudinally, and; the ends will therefore bear yieldinglyagainst the ends of the receptacle body. This will tend to hold the slit13 closed as there is an outward pull along the line of the slit, andthis pull will be transmitted through the strip 14.

To-open the purse it is placed between the fingers and thumb as shown inFig. 4, when a pressure upon theends will expand the opening as shown.When the purse is thus expanded, the mouth will open wide, thus exposingpractically" the entire' interior thereof. In referring to Fig. 5 itwill be noted that the lateral expansion of the spring will cause thematerial forming the upper face of the purse to slide and pass aroundthe spring to the lower face so as to enlarge this lower face or thebottom of the purse. This will cause the lips of the upper face to standup nearly vertical so as to form ifi effect a substantially flatbottomed open receptacle having nearly vertical upstanding sides. As thepurse is thus wide open, every part will be exposed to view and will beaccessible for removal of the coins. It is therefore not necessary topour the coins out in order to remove them, but the desired coins may bereadily picked from the purse. As soon as the pressure of the fingers isreleased, the spring will automatically close the purse. In view of thefact that the lips. of the strip 14 extend along the slit, the pull willbe exerted through this strip, so that the edges of the slit will notstretch, as would be the case if this strip were absent. The strip willalso serve to retain the coins in the purse for when the purse is heldup side down, the edges of the strip will stop the coins from passingout of the slit.

In Fig. 6 the spring is shown as composed This spring -may however bemade of a single piece 20 as shown in Fig. 7. It is w also desirable toprovide a spring strip 21 extending longitudinally along the lower faceof the purse and connected to the ends of the spring by means of endpieces 22 secured to the spring 20 in any suitable manner. This strip 21will serve to bow out the bottom 'face of the purse when expanded andwill thus keep the bottom material tight. I

Fig. 8 shows a portion of the bottom face of a purse, which in this casehas the body thereof formed of two pieces 25 joined at 26 by means of astrip of leather 27 secured to the pieces by means of rows of stitches28 or in any other suitable manner. The division line or edge 26 runs inthis case along the line 33 Fig. 1 so that the strip 27 will runlongitudinally of the receptacle. In addition to its securing function,this strip will also perform the same function as the metal strip 21 inFig. 7, i. e., to bow out the bottom of the purse.

The purse when collapsed by the pressure of the fingers will form anopen receptacle the bottom of whic although slightly bowed out androunded when the spring shown in Fig. 7 is used, will be a substantiallyflat bottom, as distinguished from and as compared with thoseconstructions in which the purse is slit along one edge.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the details ofconstruction without departing from this invention, and it is thereforeto be understood that this invention is not to be limited to thespecific construction shown and described.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. A purse or like receptacle comprising a flexible body doubled overand constructed to form a self-contained receptacle having asubstantially flat bottom, and having a slit along one face thereof toform an expansible opening for the receptacle, the device beingcollapsible to expand said slit and expose said bottom, and meansconstructed to normally hold said slit closed.

2. A purse or like receptacle comprising a flexible body doubled overand constructed to form when extended a flat closed selfcontainedreceptacle, and having a slit along one face thereof to form whencollapsed a substantially flat bottomed open receptacle, said slit beingnormally closed, and said de- 4. A purse or like receptacle comprising aflexible body doubled over and constructed to form a self-containedreceptacle having a substantially flat bottom, and having a slit alongone face thereof to form an expansible opening for the receptacle, andlips on the body extending along the edges ofsaid slit, the device belngcollapsible to expand said slitand expose said bottom.

5. A purse or like receptacle comprising a flexible bodv doubled overand constructed to form a self-contained receptacle, and having a slitalong one face thereof to form an expansible opening, and stripsextending along the edges of said slit, said strips decreasing inthickness from the center toward the ends.

6. A purse or like receptacle comprising a flexible body doubled overand constructed to form a self-contained receptacle, and hav ing a slitalong one face thereof to form an expansible opening for the receptacle,and means for holding the slit closed when the device is. extended andfor bowing out the face forming the bottom of the receptacle when thedevice is collapsed.

7. A purse or like receptacle comprising a flexible body doubled overand constructed to form a self-contained receptacle having asubstantially flat bottom, and having a slit along one face thereof toform an expansible opening for the receptacle, and a spring in saidreceptacle and extending along the edges thereof constructed to normallyhold said slit closed and expand said slit when the device is collapsedto expose said bottom.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT JOHN MEIER. Witnesses:

SUDIE R. CASE, L. B. LEWIS.

